The present invention relates to a vehicle control device for controlling a vehicle drive device of a vehicle that is provided with an idle stop function and to a vehicle drive system that is provided with the vehicle drive device that is controlled by the vehicle control device.
In recent years, vehicles have come into use that are provided with what is called an idle stop function that automatically stops the engine when the engine is idling while waiting for a traffic signal or the like and automatically restarts the engine when the vehicle starts moving again, in order to reduce the exhaust gas from the vehicle and to improve fuel economy. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-07-266932 describes a vehicle drive device and a vehicle control device for controlling the vehicle drive device. The vehicle drive device is provided with an input member that is drive coupled to an engine, an output member that is drive coupled to a wheel, and a transmission apparatus that shifts a rotational driving force of the input member at a predetermined gear ratio and transmits the force to the output member. The vehicle drive device that is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-07-266932 is provided with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) as the transmission apparatus. The CVT is configured from a drive pulley that has a V-shaped groove with a variable groove width, a driven pulley that similarly has a V-shaped groove with a variable groove width, and a transmission belt that is passed through the V-shaped grooves of the two pulleys. A takeoff clutch that enables and cuts off the transmission of the rotational driving force from the input member to the output member is also provided between the continuously variable transmission and the output member
In addition to the continuously variable transmission that is described above, numerous transmission apparatuses are known that are used in the vehicle drive device, each of which is configured with a plurality of engaging elements. In the vehicle drive device, engaging and releasing of the plurality of the engaging elements are controlled so as to switch among a plurality of shift speeds by engaging predetermined two of the engaging elements. The rotational driving force of the input member is shifted at a predetermined gear ratio at each of the shift speeds and is transmitted to the output member. A configuration of a vehicle drive device that is provided with such transmission apparatus is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2008-169874 below, for example.